Have a big goal for your ATAR and feel worried you might not get the marks? Well, we’ve got a little story about Simone, who got into her dream degree with bonus points.
You shouldn’t give up hope on aiming for your dream degree because university bonus points can help you get a bit closer. That was the case for Simone and now she is studying exactly what she wanted to, despite being short of the cut-off ATAR.
Want to know how she did it? Then let’s get straight into it!
Simone’s ATAR and Dream Degree
How did Simone get the offer?
Bonus Points
Simone’s ATAR and Dream Degree
Simone got an ATAR just above 89 but the cut-off for her desired degree was 96.
“I actually had my first preference as just engineering and my second preference as Engineering and Commerce,” she said.
“I was like, if I even get enough to get into plain Engineering, we’ll see what happens later and maybe I could pick up Commerce because doing those two together with the ATAR just seemed impossible for me,” she added.
To her surprise, she received an offer from UNSW for a combined degree in Engineering and Commerce.
“I hadn’t even checked my ATAR at this point just because I was so shocked by that email,” she told us.
“Seeing that it [her ATAR] was far below what the cut-off was, I was a little bit confused — whether they will take that away from me and what had happened to get me into that position,” Simone explained.
Psst! If you’re just starting or in the middle of Year 12, have you set your ATAR goal and identified the marks you need to get this year yet?
How did Simone get the offer?
Throughout the year, Simone did her research into different university degrees and their bonus point schemes.
“I’m lucky with UNSW, that they have a separate pathway to get into the engineering course where if you submit a video entry for about 4 minutes showing interest in engineering, they’ll consider you, even if you are below the ATAR requirement,” she explained.
This pathway is called the Faculty of Engineering Admissions Scheme (FEAS) and for application, you have to provide the following:
- A statement outlining why you have a passion for Engineering and why you’re interested in studying it
- Your Year 12 school report
- A video explaining why the degree is a good fit for you
In this video, Simone showed that she was “serious about continuing Engineering” which she believes “put me [her] a little bit higher just for the engineering side”.
“And then the bonus marks kind of pushed me through into getting into Commerce as well,” she told us.
The BEST way to get information on different degrees and admission schemes is to attend one of these University Open Days!
Bonus Points
For relevant subjects, if you receive either Band 5 or Band 6’s, then you’re eligible for a number of bonus points. This was the case for Simone as she received a few Band 5s which helped bridge part of the gap between her ATAR and the cut-off.
Simone had a basic understanding of which subjects she could potentially get bonus points from.
“Already I was kind of a leaning towards my maths and my sciences so by pushing them a little bit naturally, it did kind of make that pathway a little bit easier,” she told us.
Final Advice
“Push the subjects you’re strong at, and minimise the damage on the others,” Simone said.
Year 12 was full of highs and lows for Simone. “I did have a little bit of like mental health issues that kind of pushed me back in certain areas,” she said.
“I would say, don’t invalidate yourself for having issues and having struggles and where you can, try and overcome them,” Simone told us.
Simone was able to apply for some special provisions which also gave her a few more bonus points.
“[The] stress and all the pressure that comes with the HSC is not manageable by all so if you can apply, and the worst that can happen is they say no, and you just have to move on from that,” she said.
“If you think crap, I’m not going to get the guaranteed ATAR, don’t be shy in applying. There’s a whole lot of hope. But you need to plan for it,” Simone explained.
And that’s a wrap!
So now is the time to start looking what’s out there and to start getting your applications ready early. That’s what Simone did and it really did pay off.
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Tanna Nankivell is a Senior Content Writer at Art of Smart Education and is currently in Germany completing a year of study for her double degree in Communications (Journalism) and Bachelor of Arts (International Studies). She has had articles published on Central News – the UTS Journalism Lab and wrote a feature piece for Time Out Sydney during her internship. Tanna has a love for travel and the great outdoors, you’ll either find her on the snowfields or in the ocean, teaching aqua aerobics or creating short films.
